Page 1

Kerry

I ran through the night, a stitch in my side and cramps in both legs. After the day I’d had, I just wanted to curl up in a corner and pass out for a few hours.

Eventually, I slowed down and looked around at the neighborhood I’d stumbled into. I’d never been here before; I was sure of it. The houses stood in dark, quiet rows and seemed taken care of and clean. There wasn’t even any litter blowing around the sidewalks or hunched up in the corners.

Reminds me of home.

Wheezing, I rubbed my chest as the old ache ripped through it. I tried not to think about home too often. I tried not to think about anything too often.

Exhaustion caught up to me and my feet tangled. I went down hard and didn’t bother to get up. Closing my eyes, I lay on the sidewalk and panted.

At least it’s warm tonight.

I paused and frowned. It wasn’t like me to look for the silver lining.

Maybe I’m getting soft the closer I get to dying, I scoffed.

My lungs had almost settled down by the time I heard footsteps and a girl’s voice talking nearby.

Keep walking, honey, I wanted to tell her, but I needed all my energy to stay conscious .

“Hello,” she said. “I called 911. If you can tell me what’s wrong, I may be able to help until someone comes.”

Yeah, that voice is too sweet to belong in my world. This ain’t gonna end well.

“Are you all right?” she tried again when I didn’t answer.

“Get away from me.”

Although I kept my voice low, the demon still woke up. Swearing under my breath, I fought it like I did every single day of my life.

I didn’t win too often anymore. My strength was stretched like a rotted rubber band, my body ruined, and, if it wanted out, there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I still fought it.

Sweat tracked down my face and through the patchy beard I’d stopped shaving weeks ago. Yeah, once my hands had started shaking so badly, I figured I was more likely to slit my throat than scrape off whiskers. I hadn’t held a razor since.

Well, not for shaving, anyway.

Something touched the center of my chest and my eyelids flew up.

A girl about my age crouched next to me, her small hand pressing right over my heart. The street light set her red hair ablaze and her green eyes shone with kindness.

Was she … an angel?

A quiet snort slipped out.

Who am I kidding? Ain’t no angel anywhere that cares about me.

“I said, get away from me!” I raised my head to growl at her. “Run!”

“Shh. It’ll be okay.”

I grabbed her wrist, and my fingers found a metal band packed with power. I glanced at it and groaned. Of course I recognized it. I’d had one just like it a long time ago.

Can this night get any worse?

Surprising myself, I saw another silver lining: She wasn’t a warrior. Any warrior worth the name woulda sensed the evil inside me from a hundred feet out and tried to end me. More than one had over the years. Good thing I wasn’t easy to kill.

Don’t matter. Unless she’s a miracle worker, she’s gonna be dead if the demon figures out what she is.

“Run!” I snarled. “Get outta here!”

“Calm down.” The little fool smiled at me. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t wanna hurt you.” Too weak to fight both her and the demon, I dropped her wrist before I accidentally broke it. “Don’t wanna hurt an angel.”

Letting my head clunk back on the sidewalk, I closed my eyes again.

“Shh. It’ll be okay. Now, this may sting a bit.”

“Stop—”

Too late. She’d already set me on fire.

I was no stranger to pain, but, half-dead and exhausted, I couldn’t find the strength to block this out. My skin seemed to melt off my bones, my back arched until I thought it would break, and my fingers tried to carve themselves into the sidewalk. All the while I screamed, then sucked in air and screamed again.

When she pulled her hand back, I nearly bawled with relief. My warnings musta finally sank into her stubborn head because she fell down on her butt and started to scoot back on her hands in a jerky crab crawl.

And the demon beneath my skin grinned.

Too late now . I’m sorry, angel. I’m so sorry!

Like too many times before, the demon took over. It twisted my head toward her and made my teeth snap in a series of quick bites. All I could do was hide behind the walls I’d created years ago to save something of myself.

When she threw her purse at my face, it distracted the demon long enough for her to get to her feet and take off.

Good for you, angel!

Although she ran fast for a short girl, we caught her and tackled her to the ground so hard, it rattled my teeth. I heard her bones snap and knew some of her soft insides musta been smashed, but she still kicked and clawed and fought for her life.

I hated this. The demon wasn’t hungry, and her bracelet protected her identity, so it was only hurting her for spite, killing just because it could.

“She was trying to help me!” I roared.

“And now she’ll die for her stupidity!” it howled back.

Rage boiled in my gut. I knew what was coming. One taste of her blood would send the demon into a frenzy, and it would feast until there was nothing left of her.

I wanted to help, but even if I blasted the demon with all of my power, I’d only be able to stun it. Plus, I’d have to come out from behind my walls to do it, it would hurt like a mother, and the demon would punish me for it later, which would hurt a whole lot more.

Aw, that’s only pain. It don’t matter. And I ain’t gonna live much longer, anyway. I’m gonna wake up in the Pit any day now.

Yeah, that’s right. I was Hell-bound. Had been for years. Nothing could change that, but I was still me. I was still Kerry Harker. I deserved to be damned if I didn’t fight the demon every chance I got.

And she’d tried to help me.

Me , a piece of Hell-rot street trash that anyone else woulda walked around and left to die.

My mind made up, I waited until the demon sank my teeth into her shoulder. As the first taste of her blood distracted it, I coiled my power and let loose with the mightiest blow I could.

I was right about it hurting. My head swam and stars burst behind my eyes, but it worked. The demon froze.

Even better, the girl had enough grit left inside her to use the window I’d given her. She got a finger on my cheek and fired off a bolt of white-gold power. That hurt, almost as bad as what she did to me earlier, but it hurt the demon more. It screamed and curled up on itself, and I was back in control.

Too bad I was passing out. I woulda at least liked to say sorry to the angel before she died.

My eyes closed, and I hoped they’d never open again.